Hazel Wilson, 74, was attacked inside her Vancouver, Washington home after two intruders forced their way in on June 11, 1980. William Perry Jackson and his accomplice Gary Allen Smith pried open the door, beat her until she could no longer get up, and ransacked the residence before fleeing. A neighbor found Wilson two days later; she was taken to a local hospital and died of her injuries on June 14, 1980.

Investigators linked the assault to Jackson and Smith during a wider, fast-moving inquiry into a string of violent crimes across Oregon and Washington that summer. Both men were arrested in late August 1980, and the Wilson homicide became a focal point of their prosecutions. Court filings and testimony describe the break-in, beating, and looting of Wilson’s home. Jackson ultimately pleaded guilty to Wilson’s murder and received a life sentence; Smith was tried, convicted, and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole, with Jackson testifying against him.